I LIKE Christmas - 17,000 Christmas Lights & Webcam

Since there was a thread about iHateChristmas.Com, I thought I'd chime in on the other side ... swing by and check out my 17,000 christmas lights which includes the christmas webcam where you can not only pan/zoom the webcam, but also control the lights - yep, turn 'em on and off - I have pretty understanding neighbors! ;-)

And send me some ideas on what I should do for christmas 2005 to top this! ;-)

 

Alek, I am going to put one up also called DarkChristmas, my idea is to turn the camera on at night and let you guys watch my 15 or so cats jump around at night.

No lights, just a bunch of cats in the moonlight.

 

Wow that is a lot of lights I don't think I would be willing to put them up every year. I can't stand doing the 1000 or so lights I put up every year. (but it does look really good)

 

That was fun Alek ......26 people battling over control of the webcam in 1 minute ......you will blow up the whole neighborhoods power supply

Cyclops.

 

anthonycea: You need to get a darn good webcam with excellent low-light resolution - I'm fortunate to be able to get my hands on a pretty decent one, but with just moonlight, it would be tough to resolve much.

cyclops: Yea, it gets kinda crazy here - causes some dimming of the house lights from time to time (there's a voltage sensor, and I've seen it detect surges/lags) ... and you can actually "hear" the lights - yes, the X10 super sockets have a mechanical relay (I need to record it sometime) that got click-clack-click as they are changed. With 26 people, it's a challenge to get the webcam (and lights) where you want 'em - heck, I sometime drop in and (unless I hit an override), struggle to get control! ;-)

 

Why don't you ad a donation button to give them 2 minutes of private control. If you don't want to commercialize the idea then just donate it on to Dominic's cause or something else.

 

There's a guy that lives near me that is putting up 3000 lights from his house. It's crazy!! He usually gets someone famous in to turn the lights on. Last year he had Gordon Brown's(Chancellor of the exchequer) wife to turn them on. It was to support some charity about babies born prematurely and they had had a baby born the same way years ago.

 

3,000 lights - BAH - rookie! ;-)

alek

P.S. No plans to put a "Paypal for 2 private minutes button" or whatever - like Shawn/DP, my "tools" are free ... it would be more work to set that up anyway ... just easier to let people hammer away at it!

 

Wow! That is very very cool

 

You sir are a scheming ahole - what a moron:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/28/christmas.scam.ap/index.html

 

At least Alek was the one who contacted the media to tell them it was a hoax.

He even admits it on the site now.

I don't think he gained anything by doing it, but may think twice before doing something like this again. Sometimes even a good intention can get you in hot water, hope that google doesn't take offense to it.

 

I'm surprised there are not more comments here about the fraud Alek was perpetrating. I never really cared about his lights and I did wonder how he could have a webcam across the street and have it under his control. I am somewhat surprised that Alek did not come here and apologize personally for perpetuating his fraud through DP.

 

I have a full statement on my web site ... I would also suggest reading through my media updates which discusses two inaccuracies in the press reports floating around (so don't be mad at me for those items) ... and while I've gotten a TON of positive Emails I realize not everyone may find it funny - oh well ...

 

I can not speak for anyone else, but I find it funny.

I mean... who could take Christmas lights seriously?

 

LMAO, you actually got on CNN! Who cares if it is a hoax, that is hilarious.

 

Oh please. Anybody offended by this thing is just a grench. So you couldn't actually turn the lights on and off. I still enjoyed the site. Hoax? Yeah right. So many people were harmed. More like a joke. Good job Alek. You had me going

I actually have an x10 setup in my house and have had most of the lights accessible from the web, so it didn't seem like too much of a stretch.

 

My problem would be putting them back away (without damaging them)!

Never mind setting them up!

 

Alek, do you know this guy? ::
Annoy Thy Neighbor

An Arizona man who transformed his home into a winter wonderland featuring 150,000 lights and music may have to face the music, courtesy of some annoyed neighbors.

Chris Birkett (search) will appear in court on January 20th on charges of malicious noise-making and faces up to six months behind bars and a $2,500 fine.

(pulled from AC's favorite News source - Foxnews.com) - see bottom of page.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,142832,00.html

At least you shouldn't be going to court for anything.... LOL

 

Well I got sucked in , good one Alek, I needed a and reckon it was

I'll make sure I don't read any of your posts round 1st April

Cyclops.

 

I loved this hoax... I mean, the media guys had is attention and didn't try to see how that thing really worked... LOL!

Just hilarious! And now everyone thinks you are rich, because you are now a member of the FedEx or UPS club... LOL!

So much fame, but no profit...